Dogar’s daughter defends herself in marks row

ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: Farah Hameed Dogar, the daughter of Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, on Saturday came out in defence of herself in the controversy regarding grant of additional marks in the FSc examination, saying her career had no grey area and her blotless performance in school and college could be verified.

“The campaign against the dignity of my father and family has some ulterior motives other than emphasising educational justice,” Farah Dogar said in a much delayed statement issued to the media.

The controversy has already reached the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the high court has sealed relevant records of the federal board while the Supreme Court has stayed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education from probing into the matter – a move that instantly triggered a standoff between the parliament and the Supreme Court.

The apex court has also received a petition to unseat the chairman of the standing committee for aggressively pursuing the issue.

In the statement, Farah Dogar also resolved to contest the pending case before the high court, in which her FSc mark sheets have been challenged and said she reserved the right to sue for damages. She said she was also considering filing cases against the people concerned.

Former Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum has given a nod to defend Farah Dogar before the high court where he is also planning to file a contempt of court petition for defaming the judiciary.

The “ugly” campaign in a section of the press has caused her great mental agony and pain to the extent that she may not be able to continue studies, the statement said.

“In fact my future has been put at stake,” she said.

“The pursuit of education is my fundamental right,” she said. “Is it a crime to seek education or employment as a child of a judge or the chief justice?”

“For the past several days, I am being constantly targeted by a section of media that seems hell-bent to question the integrity of my dear father who happens to be the Chief Justice of Pakistan,” the statement said.

Unlike influential critics, it said, she did not exercise any influence over the media or the parliament, adding that she would exercise her right to state the truth in black and white.

About special favour in her FSc examination, the statement said that she was just one of the 1,093 applicants who applied for re-checking of their answer books after the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education declared the results.

She said she was among the 201 students in whose favour the board revised marks sheets. She applied for admission in three private medical colleges and also appeared in the entry test after the revision.

Not a single of the three institutions was in the public sector and their doors are open for self-finance studies, she said, adding that she got admission in the International Islamic Medical College wherein 50 seats were filled on merit and another 50 were reserved for children of overseas Pakistanis.

“The college has allocated five seats for Pakistan Railways and one for Al-Mezan Foundation, a welfare body of retired judges.

“The seat in question is rotated among the four provinces and this year it was reserved for Sindh from where I happened to be the only candidate,” she said.

She explained that the constitution extends state protection to the daughter of the chief justice until she attained the age of 21 years but the ruthless critics were unwilling to accept her rights like any other citizen.

“If a thousand students were entitled to apply for rechecking, why should the child of the judge be denied a fair chance,” she asked.

She said she was not resourceful to pull the strings in the media yet her faith in God Almighty reassured that the truth would prevail.

“I shall defend all my legitimate acts as a student and secure my due without any trespass,” she said.
Source: Dawn
Date:12/14/2008